WOTC switch to watermarking, finally...

[ShinHakkaider]

You're right I don't see the value in it, but that's not the issue to which I am speaking. When I hear someone say something like, "I don't like the price but I'll buy it anyway" I question that. Why would you buy something if you think the price is too high? That makes little sense to me. If more people didn't buy then perhaps they would get the message and reduce the prices a bit thereby benefitting even more people.

You buy it because you want the product, despite the high price. If I want to buy a new HD TV and it has all of the features I want, but the price is a little steep I, as a consumer, am going to weigh the price vs. how much I want the product and those features. At the end of the day if it's still worth it to me I'll buy the product if not I won't. There's nothing wrong with that, assuming that you don't think everyone is a miserly cheapskate.

Basically the price is what the market will bear, if there are people willing to pay the price then the company will continue to charge that price. I'm not concerned about the people who can't / won't pay the price, especially for luxury goods, I'm concerned about what I'M able and willing to pay.

 

[dcas]

Ah, but once one accepts that customers aren't thieves, it's not a difficulty at all. Those who don't own the book simply add a different SKU to their Checkout Cart than those who do own the book.

And what happens when those who don't own the book use the "yes, I do own the book" SKU?

Even if one accepts the principle that customers aren't thieves (all customers?), end users make mistakes. It would be negligent of WOTC not to ensure that such mistakes aren't made.

 

[Yair]

I wonder why Complete Adventure and Races of Destiny are not in the list. They were before. When I went to drivethrurpg's download section to redownload all the wotc books I have bought, those were two that I couldn't. When I clicked on the link it went to a dead page. Then when I went looking for them in wotc's list of products, I couldn't find them.

I wonder why they were skipped....

Conspiracy Theory #1: CA was written by Jesse Decker, RoD was written by David Noonan, Eric Cagle, and Aaron Rosenberg. Note the capitals of the last names: DNECAR, which spelled backward is "racend", which is an abbreviation for "race end", the end of the races series. The capitals of the CD book is JD, which when spelled backwards means DJ, an occupation that uses AC CURRENT!!!! The bacspelled initials of CA! Coincidence? I think not. This is clear evidence JD use AC to make the race book contact the DOR (Deperatment of Revenue), thereby bringing an end to the race series and nearly toppling WotC's electronic business ventures. Only by removing these two titles could WotC renew its online operation.

Conspiracy Theory #2: Why would any company remove a book from distribution? Because they we ordered to. It's that simple. This is just part of the ongoing effort by the Hasbaro Megacorporation, the well-known leader of the Illuminati Game Publishing Conspiracy, to undermine family values and apple pie. By removing the instructions of making a Human and a Lurk, Hasbaro sought to undermine the D&D party compositions in millions of American homes. It's well-known that the commonest race after humans are elves, so Hasbaro is subtly influencing Americans with subliminal messages that it's OK to have long ears and be skinny - in preparation for the unveiling of the Hidden Masters.
(Barring CA is just standard corporate policy to illegtimize theft and "adventuring" parties.)

 

[dcas]

When I hear someone say something like, "I don't like the price but I'll buy it anyway" I question that. Why would you buy something if you think the price is too high? That makes little sense to me.

Because you neeeeeeeed it (Cf. gasoline). Seriously, I buy a lot of things of which I don't particularly like the price, or of which I think the price is too high. Gaming materials aren't among them, but YMMV.

 

[prosfilaes]

Nope, IP law is concerned with distribution, not copying.

The US copyright office, at http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html, says

the [...] Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to[...] To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords [or] To prepare derivative works based upon the work [...]

It's not just distribution.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I don't see the issues regarding a retailer-distributed coupon for a PDF insurmountable. We did similar things in computer retail 20 years ago, and we didn't have this fancy internet thing to make it easier.

WotC issues blocks of coded coupons to the wholesale distributers based upon quantity of product ordered. The agreement between WotC and the wholesaler would forbid them from issuing coupons to non-retail establishments. The wholesalers subdivide their blocks and include the coupons when they ship to retailers. The retailer gives you a coupon when you buy the book. The consumer logs onto a website, enters the code from their coupon and whatever other information the marketing weasels want to extract, and it creates a PDF watermarked with your name and code, etc. That code is marked as used in the database, so it can't be re-used.

The point isn't to prevent some codes from leaking out -- if someone wants a bootleg PDF they're going to get it anyway. The legalese should prevent large-scale distribution of codes to non-retail vendors. The point is to create something of value that the brick and mortar stores could offer that Amazon, etc., couldn't.

 

[dcas]

The US copyright office, at http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html, says

[snip]

It's not just distribution.

OK, more specifically, IIRC someone who buys a copyrighted product has the right to make a copy for archival reasons. This is definitely true for computer programs (section 117) and for other things may fall under "fair use" (section 107). Of course I am not a lawyer so take anything I write with a grain of salt.

 

[Ghendar]

Because you neeeeeeeed it (Cf. gasoline). .

I know you're joking here but I've seen enough people where that very statement applied. I used to buy every rulebook WotC released. Eventually I found myself with a bookshelf filled with books that never got used. I decided then that I didn't neeeeeeeeeed every book.

When I see something priced at a point that I believe is too high for what you are getting (wotc gaming pdfs in this case) I don't buy it. Same with the Colossal Red Dragon. $75 retail? Yeah right. Take my left arm too. One guy on a message board once said that he was upset that the price was that high but that he was also going to buy it anyway. Huh? I just don't get that. I guess I never will. If you think the price is too high, then vote with your wallet and don't buy, imo.

 

[Monte At Home]

Agreed. The only issue I see is this isn't their first 'step' into the waters of PDF sales. The first time they released some books in PDF, it made Slashdot. When they started to release more, it made Slashdot again.....Now with watermarking and lower prices (temporarily), it hasn't made any such splash. I worry that they might have burned some bridges with DRM and high prices. This is a big deal and I don't see the marketing hype I'd like to see.

Sure. This isn't the first step. But I'll argue that it's the first big one. Until now, they've been sticking a toe into the water. Now, while they're not diving in, they are wading in. So it takes multiple steps--that's fine.

But it's big for the pdf market because it brings attention to pdfs, and OneBookShelf. Sure, all of you guys have known about pdfs forever, but as we all know, this community is made up primarily of hard core and forward thinking fans, particularly as far as anything having to do with the Internet is concerned. It's easy to forget, but your average D&D customer probably still doesn't even know pdf products exist. This is a big deal in the broad picture because it will bring new customers to pdfs. Sure, some won't buy. But some will. And they'll all see the pdfs of other companies listed there at the store.

Slashdot's nice, but it's attention is fleeting. If WotC puts even a modicum of attention into this marketing-wise, that will be huge. And even if they don't, word will get out.

So while this probably isn't that big a deal for WotC, it's a big (long term) deal for pdfs.

Who knows? Maybe 4th edition will be released electronically and in print simultaneously.

 

[Maggan]

If you think the price is too high, then vote with your wallet and don't buy, imo.

What people say, and what people do, are two seperate things. This, if anything, WotC knows very, very well.

And I don't think it's strange that one would complain about the hig price and then get it anyway. He might have had to use funds from something else that he also would have liked, and was disappointed that the high price only made it possible for him to buy one of the things, and out of these things, the Colossal Red Dragon was what he wanted most.

There's nothing strange about it. I once said that I would never ever buy a record again if the price climbed over 5 dollars. I set the same limit with going to the movies.

Need I say that I'm still buying records and going to the movies?

/M